Responding to Isolation and Educational Disadvantage.

A good deal of the rural education literature from the twentieth century routinely associates geographic isolation with educational disadvantage. As analyses have become more sophisticated, more attention has been given to the understanding ofdifferences and specific needs exhibited by isolated communities and ofways ofresponding to these in a more focused way. This paper will provide a way ofconceptualising the relationships between components ofisolation (the concrete, tangible and actual, as well as the subjective, perceptual and constructed) and will examine ways in which various responses to isolation can impact on educational practices and outcomes. The paper will argue that there is. within this matrix ofresponses, a 'sweet spot' or optimal site for educational interventions that are designed to address disadvantage.